Wedding tips and advice on a budget please!

[Starlight1979]

Hi all! So we have just booked our wedding for December! Argh! I'm so excited!!! We have decided on getting married at the local registry office just the two of us and then having a meal afterwards with all family and close friends.

I thought paying under £100 for the ceremony was a bargain but then realised the cost of a photographer and wedding rings and had a little panic

We're not skint but I have already booked our honeymoon and thrown a small fortune at it (we both love travelling and holidays so that was a better use of the money in our eyes). Plus we'll have a meal and drinks for 20-30 people to pay for!

So, has anyone got any advice as to what you've done in terms of having nice photos taken (without paying £1k plus for a professional photographer). They all seem to do full day wedding packages which we obviously don't need?!

Also, where is best to get wedding rings from? Just a high street jeweler? Or are there other options?

Lastly, I have seen some dresses on Rixo which are gorgeous (I don't want anything white or bridal!) but again, on the expensive side. So any dress / outfit advice for something special would be appreciated too.

Thank you all so much in advance

 

[Savant]

Hi, congratulations!

We are doing ours on a budget too - registry office (which I was surprised was £611 for a Sunday, plus £84 to give notice so nearly £700!) . We chose the prettiest registry office in our county.

Then for reception we’ve got an area at a nice pub booked and we’ve booked a buffet for 50 people at £25/head, so about £1250 on food. We’re also giving everyone one drink but you wouldn’t have to do that.

I found a photographer I who’s photos I loved and asked what their smallest package was, specifying what photos were important to me and what wasn’t (I.e. I don’t care about a long couples photoshoot or loads of group photos, I just want natural shots of us coming out of the registry office and anything else is a bonus).
he offered a 4 hour package for £550 which I thought was a bargain. I didn’t think I was fussed about having a photographer but realised I thought I would regret it if I didn’t.

its amazing how the costs add up isn’t it!! There’s so much I didn’t think I cared about but now it’s come down to it I realise some things are quite important to me, like having decent rings and a nice cake. You just need to decide what is really important to you and what isn’t. For instance I’m not having bridesmaids or a big white dress or having my hair or make up done, but that’s just me. Don’t skip on anything you think you’ll regret!

Have fun planning!! It’s the best

 

[bakewellbride]

We had an amazing photographer who had been in the business for 25 years. Here's the tip - instead of having a photographer the whole day, just have a small time slot.

I wasn't fussed about fancy 'getting ready photos' or anything so our photographer arrived with us at the registry office so we had him for the ceremony then some lovely photos afterwards then he left and we went to the restaurant we'd booked for dinner.

So £300 instead of £1k for the photographer (think we had him for 3 hours) and still lots of beautiful, really special photos.

Also we only spent £70 on flowers - my bouquet, button holes for dh and page boy and small bouquets for the flower girls. So again hundreds saved there.

DIY decorations for the room we'd hired at the restaurant.

Monsoon wedding dress. Dh wore a suit he already owned but new shirt and tie.

I did my own make up but did have my hair professionally done (and she kindly helped with my eye shadow as was also a make up artist and I'm shit at eye shadow!)

£2.5k total spend and it really was an amazing wedding. We did NOT scrimp and scrape on food and drink and everything had unlimited everything at the restaurant paid for by us. There are some things you should spend on imo!

 

[Savant]

We had an amazing photographer who had been in the business for 25 years. Here's the tip - instead of having a photographer the whole day, just have a small time slot.

I wasn't fussed about fancy 'getting ready photos' or anything so our photographer arrived with us at the registry office so we had him for the ceremony then some lovely photos afterwards then he left and we went to the restaurant we'd booked for dinner.

So £300 instead of £1k for the photographer (think we had him for 3 hours) and still lots of beautiful, really special photos.

Also we only spent £70 on flowers - my bouquet, button holes for dh and page boy and small bouquets for the flower girls. So again hundreds saved there.

DIY decorations for the room we'd hired at the restaurant.

Monsoon wedding dress. Dh wore a suit he already owned but new shirt and tie.

I did my own make up but did have my hair professionally done (and she kindly helped with my eye shadow as was also a make up artist and I'm shit at eye shadow!)

£2.5k total spend and it really was an amazing wedding. We did NOT scrimp and scrape on food and drink and everything had unlimited everything at the restaurant paid for by us. There are some things you should spend on imo!

Sounds like a perfect day!

 

[Roryno]

Yes - don’t mention wedding to where you’re eating.

I have to say, my wedding photos are much better than those other people took, so I’d definitely have some. Tbe small time slot mentioned above sounds à great idea.

We had a M&S cake and it was lovely. Plus we often buy a top tier on our anniversary.

We bought rings from a high street jeweller for our wedding rings and they’ve been fine.